<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>dear god (it's me, karl jacobs) by bruisedbutlovely</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29500980">dear god (it's me, karl jacobs)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bruisedbutlovely/pseuds/bruisedbutlovely'>bruisedbutlovely</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>bittersweet words // oneshots [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dream SMP - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Antarctic Empire, Canon Universe, Childhood Trauma, Ghost Wilbur Soot, Hurt No Comfort, Insane Wilbur Soot, Insanity, Karl Jacobs Needs a Hug, Karl Jacobs-centric, Kidnapping, Manipulation, Memory Loss, Mentioned Alexis | Quackity, Mentioned Jschlatt (Video Blogging RPF), Mentioned Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Mentioned Toby Smith | Tubbo, Mind Games, Minor Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, Protective Karl Jacobs, Protective Wilbur Soot, Religious Imagery &amp; Symbolism, Sky Gods - Freeform, Skyblock Randomizer, Tags Are Hard, The InBetween - Freeform, Time Travel, Time Travelling Karl Jacobs, Trauma, Unreliable Narrator, Web Series: Tales from the SMP, Wilbur Soot Angst, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, karl and wilbur meet, losing yourself, the sky gods gave karl the books, time travelling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:29:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,441</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29500980</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bruisedbutlovely/pseuds/bruisedbutlovely</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Karl Jacobs was a time traveler not of his own accords. He was given the powers by the legendary ‘Sky Gods’ who told him to write down the history of the SMP. </p><p>He believed that they truly cared for him. That the sanity he was losing was for a high purpose. </p><p>Wilbur Soot was one of the Sky Gods’ playthings. </p><p>And he didn’t want Karl to fall into the same trap he did. </p><p> </p><p>(or karl jacobs met wilbur soot in the inbetween.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, Karl Jacobs &amp; Wilbur Soot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>bittersweet words // oneshots [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2160981</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>358</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>dear god (it's me, karl jacobs)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>ngl very proud of this one</p><p>this is my like millionth plea for the sky gods to be canon, thank you very much. i will take anything at this point, i just love them a lot</p><p>i love all of you and take care of yourself!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Karl Jacobs was lost. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The palace seemed more like a maze, a labyrinth that no one could get out of rather than a “home away from home”. There were staircases that led to nowhere, doors that opened to nothing, grand and magnificent hallways that seemed to have no exit. The pillars that held up the sky towered over him and when he looked out the windows, he could only see the endless void the Inbetween rested on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This world was cold. This world was colorless. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl wasn’t sure if he hated or loved it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His fingers traced the marks on the walls, the engravings of symbols that Karl didn’t recognize. They circled the main hall he walked in, barely noticeable and barely there as if they were carved a long long time ago, before Karl was even a thought. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He tried to understand the carvings. They were nothing but nonsense. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Continuing through the Inbetween, Karl’s eyes glazed over the oh so faultless quartz and the flawless windows that seemed too perfect. That was this entire world. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It didn’t seem real.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The corridor suddenly opened up to the courtyard, the grass swaying slightly in the wind. The flowers that bloomed around the swingset, around the courtyard, were bright and vibrant, a splash of color against the colorless world. Gently, he ran a finger down a petal from a lily and hated how the petal felt too nice, too perfect. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nothing seemed real.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl grabbed the chain of the left swing, sitting down softly as the wind ran through the courtyard again. He lifted his head towards the sun, towards its warmth as he pushed himself back and forth, back and forth. He leaned against the chain and closed his eyes, trying to pretend that this was the SMP. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t remember the last time he saw the server, saw his home, saw his husbands. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He could barely remember them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re not supposed to be here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl’s head snapped back down towards the hallway he came from and found himself staring at a dead man. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Wilbur Soot was dressed in the same thing he died in. The brown trench coat that Karl saw Niki wear sometimes was charred with ash and soot, burned in some places. The white shirt he wore was cut through the middle, revealing a sword wound that was simply unhealable. He wore dark pants and dark boots, both covered in blood and dirt. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Blood dripped down his chin. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And in the oh so perfect Inbetween, he looked out of place. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-what?’ Karl’s hands gripped the chain tighter, the iron digging ruthlessly into his skin. Wilbur only stared at him, stepping down the staircase to the courtyard.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re not supposed to be here,” Wilbur repeated and Karl had never heard his voice before. He had only heard Ghostbur’s, echoey and soft. “You’re not dead.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No!” The time traveler reeled back as if he’s been hit. “Of course I’m not dead.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then why are you here?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why are you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Wilbur sighed softly, running a hand through his hair. “I’m here because Philza Minecraft stabbed me after I blew up L’Manburg. I’m here because this is as close to the afterlife as it gets.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Karl froze. “What the honk? This is the afterlife?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Not really,” Wilbur took </span>
  <span>a seat on the other swing, moving himself back and forth. “It’s simply a place right before the void. It’s a place in between life and death, the past and the future, the beginning and the end. I’m only here because Ghostbur still walks the world.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Leaning his head back towards the sun, Karl tried to understand. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Where was he truly?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You still haven’t answered my question.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The time traveller looked back at the dead man before sighing softly. “I’m a time traveller. And sometimes, I get transported here, I don’t know why. It’s supposed to help me with my memories.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you forgetting?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“That’s all I can seem to do.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The chains holding the swings creaked and threatened to break but they still held. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How did you become a time traveller, Karl?” Wilbur glanced his way. He didn’t seem like the insane man Quackity or Sapnap described to him, so determined to blow up the country that he built. “That doesn’t seem like something that happens every day.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Furrowing his eyebrows, Karl tried to remember. “I don’t know. They just came one day.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Who came?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“The Sky Gods.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A single flash of lightning broke apart the sky. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The Sky Gods?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl looked over at the dead mad and found fear in the other’s eyes. “You know them?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Wilbur let out a low laugh that sounded almost like a cry. “You could say that. They destroyed everything. They ruined me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you talking about?” Karl looked over at the other sole occupant of the Inbetween. Wilbur looked lost, looked scared and Karl couldn’t imagine. The Sky Gods were good, they gave him this power, they gave him this chance to travel through time to uncover the lost history of the world. “They..they-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They took me, Karl,” Wilbur begged for him to understand. “When I was a kid, the Sky Gods took me away. They put me through their games, they hurt me over and over and over again, they broke me. The Sky Gods do not care for you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They gave me this mission,” Karl stood from the swing in an effort to protect the beings that gave him this power, that gave him this chance. “I’m not going to fail them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“You’re a game to them, Karl,” Wilbur stood as well, his trench coat billowing around him. “You mean nothing to them. All they care about is the entertainment you bring them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Shut the honk up-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Once they’re done, they’ll throw you away like they did to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Stop, it’s not true.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re losing yourself.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl’s breath hitched. He stared at Wilbur. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re losing yourself,” Wilbur whispered, his voice somehow loud in the silence. “Memories are the first to go. You start to forget people you love, your friends, your family and eventually, their names go entirely. All you know is the games the Sky Gods play.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shut up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then, you start losing who you are. You start to go insane, determined to finish the games as fast as possible because they promised you a lot. They promised safety, they promised peace, and they won’t let you go until they’re satisfied.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shut up!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And once you’re finally free, finally done, you can barely recognize yourself. You go home after years of being missing and you try to pretend that everything is okay but it’s not. People call your name and you don’t respond because you don’t remember it. People try to ask what happened to you but you don’t remember. Then comes the final part of the game. You break.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I’m not going to break.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Everyone does. I did.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not you!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course you’re not,” Wilbur looked...sorry for him. “Because you’re still in the early games. You can still leave. You don’t have to obey them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“But I have to,” Karl held his hands in front of his heart, like he was trying to protect himself. “Sapnap and Quackity are still in war, in terror. I have to make sure they’re safe.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know,” Wilbur tried to smile. “They threatened to hurt my family too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Silence in the courtyard. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What did they do to you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Silence in the palace.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let me start at the beginning.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Silence in the Inbetween.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They took me when I was only ten.”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wilbur was asleep when they came for him, sneaking into the Empire’s palace. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>One of them cradled him close to their chest, cooing at the child. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They disappeared into the night. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The father of the child screamed in the morning and his screams woke the child’s brothers. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“How long did they have you?” Karl was scared of the answer, scared of the truth about the gods he followed so blindly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Seven years,” Wilbur admitted, ignoring the other’s sharp breath. “When I finally broke at seventeen, they let me free.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“What did they do to you?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Stuck on a piece of bedrock in the void, items spawned every few minutes. He sacrificed animals for the Sky Gods and yet, they took Milo from him.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The water was rising and they were drowning, drowning, drowning. Someone Wilbur didn’t remember stood above him on dry land. Wilbur pulled out a sword. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The lava was rising and they were burning, burning, burning. Wilbur wondered if he preferred the water or lava as the other hid in cobblestone. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>TNT was falling and they were simply helpless to stop it. They tried to build but the red sticks continued to blow it all up, destroying everything they ever made. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe it was there Wilbur found his addiction to fire, to destruction. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you broke.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Anyone would after seven years of that shit,” Wilbur spat out, his hands curling around the chains of the swings. They sat back down as Wilbur began his tale. “The other boy I was with for the last three years broke as well.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you remember him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Wilbur shook his head. “I could barely remember anything. He had ram horns. We were friends.”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wilbur woke up on the ground. There was no water. There was no lava. There was no TNT.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And after a minute, there were no random blocks. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He was finally free. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did you find home again?” Karl felt the sun slowly leave his face as it set. Wilbur didn’t seem to notice. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wandered for a long, long time. Met people, found love, lost love, lost people. I was a mess, confused, and I could barely remember my own name. I accidentally ran into Phil one day and he took me home.”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Wilbur?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wilbur didn’t respond. He didn’t know his name.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>“Wil!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>There was a man with blonde hair in front of him, wings held up behind him.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wilbur was crying.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Dad!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <span>Karl let himself simply swing for a few seconds. “Did you ever fully remember?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“No,” Wilbur let out a choked laugh even though there was nothing funny about it. “I can barely remember those seven years and anytime I do try to remember, it just hurts. It’s better to just block it out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You lost seven years of your life.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“And you already lost a few months.”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Tommy,” Wilbur unexpectedly said one day, years since his return. He finally remembered someone. “Where’s Tommy?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>“The Dream SMP,” Phil was quiet with him these days. “He and Tubbo joined.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>“I want to see him.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Phil only smiled. “You will, Wilbur, I promise.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“You forgot everyone.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It took years to even remember I had two brothers,” Wilbur reached down to weave the grass through his blood stained fingertips. “It took me longer to remember their names.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Why didn’t Phil tell you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“He did. It didn’t matter. It was like someone was telling me about someone completely different. Like someone was telling me a story.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tears started to well up in Karl’s eyes. “I don’t want to lose anyone.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You will if you continue down this path.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Tommy!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Wilbur!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“How does it...feel?” Karl hesitantly asked. “To forget everyone and everything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Where have you been, Big Man?” Tommy asked as they stared over L’Manburg. “You show up after being missing for so long. I thought you were dead.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wilbur only closed his eyes. “Don’t worry about it, Toms. I’m here now.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Wilbur was silent for a few seconds. “It’s like falling asleep. You don’t realize it until it’s too late.”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They were victorious. They were winners. They were free. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wilbur, for the first time in his life, felt free. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He didn’t notice the beings watching from above. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“And how does it feel to remember?”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“My first decree…”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Run, Tommy!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Pogtopia. I like that.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Revolution!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s like you’re drowning. You’re under the waves and you can’t remember how to swim but something is telling you that you should remember. But the memories slip through your fingers like sand and you cannot stop it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Are we the bad guys?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>
      <br/>
    </span>
  </em>
  <span>Wilbur let out a soft sigh, shaking his head. “I thought they left forever. But they always come back. It was the final part of the game, the final break.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that why you went insane?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“It was all I remembered how to do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Let’s blow that motherfucker to smithereens.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Sky Gods tell you to jump and you do. They tell you to claw at yourself and you do. They tell you to destroy yourself and you do.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl looked down at his hands. Why did it feel like there was blood on them?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“They told me to blow up L’Manburg. So I did.”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“My unfinished symphony.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do their games ever stop?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Only in death.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Kill me.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>There was silence for a long time afterwards. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Inbetween was dark. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And all Karl could think about was the idea of losing Sapnap, Quackity, everyone forever. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All because of a stupid game. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This wasn’t a game. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Wilbur unexpectedly stood, letting the swing flow to a stop behind him. He looked at Karl with pity in his eyes and Karl hated it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t deserve this,” The dead man whispered. “But you do deserve a chance to escape. Run, Karl Jacobs, run as far as you can. Don’t listen to their stories, don’t accept their games. No matter what they promise you or threaten you with, don’t give in. They may be gods but even gods can fall.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With that, Wilbur turned, heading away from Karl.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But what if they take me anyways? How do I fight them in their own game?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Wilbur paused. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Remember your friends, your loved ones. Remember how they smile, how they laugh, how they look when the sun is just right. Remember your home because that’s all you have. Remember yourself, Karl. Don’t let them take that away.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Wilbur began to walk away again but Karl called out for him one final time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait, I can go back. The power they gave me, I can send you back so you don’t press that button. You can try again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Wilbur only smiled sadly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My story is over, Karl, but yours isn’t.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Wilbur walked away and Karl was alone again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With shaking hands, he took the book that rested in the item frame on the tree and opened it again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>DON’T STRAY FROM THE PATH</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl stared down at the pages, the swing he sat on softly moving back and forth, back and forth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He would stray from the path.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He would try and change history. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl Jacobs wouldn’t fall like Wilbur Soot did. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>